Means for continuously spooling filamentary bodies



A riI 4, 1961 E. T. LLOYD ETAL MEANS FOR CONTINUOUSLY SPOOLING FILAMENTARY BODIES Filed 001". 7, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 4, 1961 E. -r. LLOYD ETAI.

MEANS FOR CONTINUOUSLY SPOOLING FILAMENTARY BODIES Filed Oct. 7, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 AGTUATED ay CAM5 seq, 3\

ATTORNEY April 4, 1961 E. T. LLOYD ETAL 2,978,194

MEANS FOR CONTINUOUSLY SPOOLING FILAMENTARY BODIES Filed Oct. 7, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG .2

11b 11c fi 140 To limit switch 64 R2 April 4, 1961 E. T. LLOYD ETAL MEANS FOR CONTINUOUSLY SPOOLING FILAMENTARY BODIES Filed 001;. 7, 1957 FIG.3.

WINDING ON BARREL 59 cm m 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 TCH E'D WIRE CHANGE OVER ONE CYCLE United States Patent 9 F MEANS FOR CONTINUOUSLY SPOOLING FILAMENTARY BODIES Edward Thompson Lloyd, New Eltham, London, and

Filed Oct. 7, 1957, Ser. No. 688,496 9 Claims. (Cl. 242-25) This invention relates to' machines for continuously spooling filamentary bodies. The invention is primarily concerned with machines for the continuous spooling of thin wire of a diameter of, say, from four to twelve thousandths of an inch, in conjunction for example,'with a slip type wire drawing machine from which the spooling machine is driven.

Developments in the art of continuous annealing in tandem with wire drawing processes have produced annealing ovens through which such thin wire may be passed at very high speeds approximating to wire drawing speeds. If the passage of the wire is stopped much of the wire in the oven is wasted and so it is necessary to spool the wire continuously if waste is to be avoided. Moreover, since the wire is very thin the spooling must be accomplished without snatch, which would break the wire between the spooling machine and the wire drawing machine and/or the annealing oven, and therefore, the linear speed of winding must be kept constant during changeover from winding on one spool to anotherr Furthermore, when the wire is being spooled from a slip type wire drawing machine it is necessary to limit the amount of slip through the wire drawing machine by maintaining at all times a peripheral winding speed on the spooling machinewhich is slightly less than the peripheral speed of the final drawing capstan of the wire drawing machine.

It has already been proposed to'provide a: spooling machine wherein a filamentary body is wound upon two spools in succession. The speed of the spool on which the body is being wound is progressively reduced until the spool is full when his declutched' and the second spool is brought into operation at a higher speed in an endeavour to keep the linear speed of winding constant. In this arrangement the speed of the operative spool wasteduced in dependence on the interval of time that had elapsed since it commenced winding and thespeed at Patented Apr. 4, 1961 speed of a spool on the arbor approaching said position is controlled in dependence on the quantity of filamentary body on the spool on the arbor leaving the operative position so that the linear winding speed remains substantially constant during a changeover from winding on one spool to winding on another.

Conveniently each arbor is driven through a separate variable speed gear from a common shaft, and the variable speed gears connected to the arbor in the operative position and to the arbor next to move into the operative position are simultaneously adjusted in dependence on the quantity of the filamentary body on the spool in the operative position.

The variable speed gears may be adjusted through a ratchet device operated in dependence on the quantity of the filamentary body on the spool in the operative position. The ratchet device may be operated by unidirectional impulses and means may be provided for reversing the output of the ratchet device when changing from one spool to another. The impulses may be controlled by switch means carried by an arm arranged to follow the increasing diameter of the body being wound on the spool in the operative position. The switch means may be a capacitance operated proximity switch which dispenses with the need for any part of the machine to touch the spooled material.

The arm may also be connected to a follower which rides on a cam, whose angular position is controlled by the output of said ratchet device and there may be provided at least two cams, one being the mirror image of the other, and means to move the follower from one cam to the other when moving an empty spool into the operative position. The means for reversing the output of the ratchet device may be controlled by the means a for moving the follower from one cam to another.

The arbors may be mounted on a rotatable bowl and the arbors and the bowl driven from concentric shafts. The bowl may be rotated by an electric motor, means being provided to stop and start the motor between successive movements of the bowl.

Traversing means may be provided to flake the filamentary body being wound, and means may be provided which the empty spool commenced operation also depended on the same time interval. This proposal suffered from two disadvantages. The first was that neither spool was driven during changeover, and the second was that since the speeds of the spools depended on atime interval the linear speed of winding was kept only approximately constant. Both these disadvantages have the effect of causing snatch at changeover from one spool to another and would make the machine unsuitable for winding thin wire, particularly thin wire issuing from a slip type wire drawing machine.

for driving the traversing means in dependence on the speed of whichever arbor is being driven faster.

One embodiment of the invention, as applied to a machine suitable for continuously spooling very thin wire and capable of being driven in association with a wire drawing machine, will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figures la and lb are diagrammaticschematic views of the machine,

Figure 2 is a circuit diagram of the electrical control circuit therefor, and

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of a cycle of operations of the machine.

Referring to the drawings, the'machine is contained and supported in a suitable frame and casing of which only fragments are shown and all the fragments are indicated by 1.

The machine has a main drive shaft 2 which is driven from a wire drawing machine (not shown) by a belt 3 through a pulley 4. The shaft 2 is provided with a pinion 5 which meshes with pinions 6 and 7 on parallel shafts 8 and 9 respectively. The shaft 8 is optionally connected to a co-axial shaft 10' through an electro-magnetic clutch 11a and brake 11b of a unit 11 which may be operated either to cause the shaft 10 to rotate with the shaft 8- or to disconnect the shaft 10' and bring it to rest. The shaft 9 is optionally connected to a coaxial shaft 12 through a unit 13 similar to the unit 11 and having a clutch 13a and a brake 13b.

The shaft is provided with a sprocket 14 and drives a shaft 15 through a chain 16 and sprocket 17. The shaft 15 is connected to the input of a variable speed gear 18 the output of which is connected to a shaft 19. The variable speed gear 18 is of the known type wherein each shaft has a pair of coned members which engage a hardened steel ring. The gear is adjusted by causing the pair of coned members on one shaft to converge while the coned members on the other shaft diverge-or vice versa. The ring may thus be caused to occupy any desired position between the maximum and minimum diameters of the coned members, thus providing an infinitely variable output speed within these limits. The variable speed gear 18 is controlled by totation of a shaft 20 provided with a worm wheel 21.

The shaft 12 is provided with a sprocket 22 and drives a shaft 23 through a'sprocket 24 and chain 25. The shaft 23 is connected to the input of a variable speed gear 26, similar to the variable speed gear 18, and the output of the gear 26 is connected to a shaft 27. The gear 26 is controlled by rotation of a shaft 28 having a worm wheel 29 and cams 30 and 31 to be described hereinafter.

The shaft 19 is provided with a pinion 32 which meshes with a pinion 33 on a hollow shaft 34, While the shaft 27 is provided with a pinion 35 which meshes with a pinion 36 on a shaft 37 which is rotatable coaxially within the shaft 34. The other ends of the shafts 34, 37 carry sprockets 38, 39 which drive concentric shafts 40, 41 through chains 42, 43 and sprockets 44, 45. The chains 42, 43 also drive two free wheel sprockets 46, 47 mounted upon a shaft 48 which drives the traversing gears as will be described hereinafter.

The shaft 40 carries a rotatable sleeve 49 which in turn carries a bowl 50. Rotatably mounted on the bowl are two arbors 51, 52 provided with pinions 53, 54 which mesh with pinions 55, 56 on the ends respectively of the shafts 40, 41. The bowl 50 is provided with a friction brake 57 for a purpose to be described hereinafter and each arbor is arranged to receive a spool 58 or 59.

The sleeve 49 is provided with a sprocket 60, through which it is driven from a chain 106 and a sprocket 62 mounted on the shaft of an electric motor 61.

Traversing gear is provided for traversing the filamentary body during winding, and consists of an arm 103 having a guide 104 round which the filamentary body 105 passes. The arm 103 is caused to reciprocate in directions parallel to the axis of the spool 59 by the following mechanism. The shaft 48 is provided with a worm 130 which meshes with a worm wheel 131 on a shaft 90. The shaft 90 also carries a pinion 91 which meshes with a wheel 92 on a shaft 93 which carries a cardioid cam 94. A cam follower 101 is pivotally mounted at 102 and is provided with a stud 95 to engage the cam surface. Pivotally mounted on the follower 101 is a block 96 to which is connected one end of a tension spring 99. The other end of spring 99 is connected to the frame 1 and the spring serves to keep the stud 95 in contact with the cam surface. A pair of parallel rods 97, 100 are fixed to the block 96 and are free to reciprocate longitudinally in suitable guides (not shown) in the frame 1. The rods also carry a fixed block 98 to which is secured the arm 103. It will be apparent that as the cam 94 is rotated the block 98 and hence the arm 103 will reciprocate in the directions of the arrows X. a

An arm 68 pinned to one end of a shaft 67 is provided at its extremity with a capacitance probe 135 in close proximity to the material being wound upon the spool 59. Movable with the arm 68 is a cam follower 107 urged against the surface of cams 30, 31 by a tension spring 89 attached to the machine frame 1.

A cam follower 66 pinned to the other end of the shaft 67 engages in a cam groove 108 cut in the periphcry of the bowl 50. The shaft 67 is movable axially by the cam follower 66. The cam groove 108 is cut to impart one complete forward and backward axial movement to the shaft 67 for each complete revolution of the bowl 50. By this means the cam follower 107 may be moved from a position riding on cam 30 to a position riding on cam 31 and vice versa as will be described hereinafter. A damping cylinder 88 is interposed between the end of the follower 107 and the frame 1 to worms 110, 109 on a shaft 132.

cushion the shock as the follower moves from one cam to the other.

The worm wheels 21, 29 on the shafts 20 and 28, which control the variable speed gears 18 and 26, mesh with The shaft 132 also carries a pinion 75, a ratchet wheel 81 and a manual control handle 84. Meshing with the pinion 75 is a pinion 74 on a lay shaft 76 which also carries a ratchet wheel 80. A solenoid 87 is mounted on the frame 1 and is controlled by a capacitance operated switch 65 and limit switch 85. The piston rod 86 is linked to a plate 111, which in turn carries two pivoted pawls 82, 83. The plate 111 is guided so that the pawls reciprocate radially about the centre of shafts 76 and 132. A cam plate 78 is pivotally mounted at 79 and is provided with slots through which pass the shafts 132 and 76. The cam plate 78 is arranged to cooperate with the pawls 82 and 83 whereby only one pawl engages its respective ratchet wheel at a time, the other pawl being held clear of its associated wheel. A spring 77 tends to keep the cam plate 78 in one limit position and it is moved to the other limit position by a cable 73 which passes over pulleys 69, 70, 71, 72 and is connected to a collar 113 on the shaft 67 whereby the position of the cam plate 78 is changed in dependence on the position of the arm 68 and the follower 107.

The spools 58, 59 are each provided with means 133, 134 for securing the filamentary body thereto.

The operation of the machine is as follows:

In the position shown in Figures 1 and 2 the filamentary body is being wound on the spool 59. The relay CB (see Figure 2) is energized through the rotary sector switch 138. Contact CB/2 is thereby closed and the clutch coil 13a of the unit 13 is energized to drive the spool 59. The spool is being driven from the main shaft 2, through pinions 5 and 7, through the electro-magnetic unit 13 to shaft 12, from shaft 12 through the chain 25 and sprockets 22 and 24 to the shaft 23, through the variable gear 26 to the shaft 27, through pinions 35, 36 to shaft 37, from shaft 37 to shaft 41 through sprockets 39, 45 and chain 43, and from shaft 41 through pinions 56, 54, driving arbor 52. The relay CA is de-energized, contact CA/l is closed, and the brake coil 11b of the unit 11 is energized to arrest the spool 58. The spool 58 is not being'driven and the electro magnetic unit 11 is operated to disconnect shaft 8 from shaft 10. These conditions are indicated diagrammatically at the left of Figure 3 at S1.

The traversing arm 103 is being reciprocated from the drive to the shaft 48 from the sprocket 47 which is in turn driven by the chain 43, as hereinbefore described.

When a predetermined thickness, say ,4 of the filamentary body has been wound on the spool 59, the change in capacitance between the probe 135 and material on the spool closes the switch 65, thus energizing the solenoid 87. The piston rod 86 is moved downwards in the direction of the arrow and moves the plate 111 downwards, thus turning the ratchet wheel 80 by means of pawl 83. The ratchet wheel 80 turns the shaft 76 which in turn rotates the shaft 132 through the meshing pinions 74, 75.

As the shaft 132 rotates it turns the worm wheels 21 and 29 through the worms 109, and thereby adjusts the setting of the variable gears 18 and 26.

, The variable gears 18 and 26 are so arranged that rotation of the shafts20 and 2 8 in the same sense will adjust the gears in opposite senses, i.e. in one gear the ratio be acreagetween output and input speeds will be decreased while in" the other the ratio will be increased. Inthe position shown the ratio of the gear 26 will be decreased whereby thespool 59 will be caused to rotate slower to allow for its increased effective diameter while keeping the linear speed of winding constant. Although the variable speed gear 18 is not in operation. its setting will be altered at the; same time as the setting of the gear 26 is altered.

'As the shaft 28 is rotated by the shaft 132 the earns 30, 31 are also moved and the cam 31 co-acts with the follower 107 to move the arm 68 away from the spool 59.

Asthe arm 68 moves away from the spoolthe capacitance between the probe 135 and spool material will revert to its original value and switch 65 will open ready for the; next correction. v

At. the end of the solenoid stroke the cam piston rod 86 opens the normally closed limit switchv 85 tode-energise the solenoid 87. The solenoid plunger 137 is then returned to its uppermost position under the into operation it will drive the spool 58 relatively fast,

the relation between the rotational speeds of the spools at changeover being such that the linear speed of Winding is kept constant. This occurs at S2 in Figure 3.

When the spool 59 is nearly full the cam follower 107 has been moved to such a position that it closes a limit switch 64, thus energizing the relay R2. Contact R2/1 closes, holding in R2 after eventual re-opening of the :limit switch 64. Contact R2/3 closes, and thereby links all terminals of the rotary selector switch 138. Relays CA and CB are therefore energized simultaneously, and the clutch unit 11a is operated, so that the shaft is driven from the shaft 8, and therefore the spool 58 begins to rotate at a speed determined by the adjustment of the variable speed gear 18.

The electro-magnetic units 11 and 13 are operated alternately every half cycle by means of a rotary selector switch 138 placed in the electrical control circuit.

When the spool 59 is completely full the cam follower 107 closes the limit switch 63 which initiates the following events:

(1) The electric motor 61 starts running, thus driving the bowl 50 through sprockets 60 and 62 and chain 106. The bowl rotates anti-clockwise and the empty spool 58 moves around to take up the position formerly occupied by the spool 59.

(2) As the bowl 50 rotates, the cam follower 66, engaging with the groove 108 in the outer periphery of the bowl, urges shaft 67 in the direction of the arrow to move the follower 107 from the cam to the cam 31, thereby bringing the arm 68 into the correct position for the empty spool 58. As the shaft 67 moves laterally, the collar 113 is moved and the movement transmitted through the cable 73 to the cam plate 78, which is moved against the action of tension spring 77 so that the pawl 82 is allowed to contact the ratchet wheel 81 and the pawl 83 is lifted clear of the ratchet wheel 80.

(3) As the bowl 50 completes half a revolution and the spool 58 comes into the operative winding position (S2 in Figure 3) a switch 114 is tripped by one of the two projections 139 on the periphery of the bowl and stops the motor 61. The switch 114 has two sets of contacts, one set of which is shown in Figure 2 at 114/2, and is normally closed. Relay R1 is normally continuously energized with contact R1/1 open. When contact 114/2 opens momentarily, the contact R1/1 closes momentarily,

1-36' on the and "energizes the operating coil 141 of the rotary selector switch 138, thereby causing it to select relay CA.

The impulse from contact R1/1 of relay R1 is also transmitted to the time delay switch 140,.which is initiated by thisimpulse, and after an interval during which it is required that both spools be driven, switch 140 opens momentarily and self re-sets. This opening of 140 deenergizes relay R2 and contacts R2/1, R2/2 and R2/3 open, thus separating the terminals of the rotary selector switch 138, so that the spool 58 continues to be driven, while the spool 59 is braked.

Thus, the electro-magnetic clutch unit 13a is held in operation under the action of the time delay switch 140 for a short period, through the rotary selector switch138 which alternatively brings appropriately either unit 11 or 13 under the action of the time delay switch 140 at the end-of each successive half cycle. therefore, kept running for a few seconds to permit the automatic changeover of the filamentary body to the empty spool, whereupon the full spool is automatically de-clutched and braked for replacement by an empty spool.

The filamentary body is now wound upon the spool 58- and is secured thereto. It is sufiicient here to say that as. the filamentary body is traversed across the spool 58 by the guide 104 and arm 103 the body catches under a tongue and is thus secured to the spool 58. A knife blade (not shown) is secured to the bowl 50 in such a position. that as the spools change position that part of the filamentary body stretching between the spools is brought across the knife blade and severed.

As will be seen the flaking gear is driven from whichever of the sprockets 46 and 47 is rotating, or if both are rotating, from whichever is rotating the faster since the sprockets are provided with free wheels. Thus as the rotational speed of the spool in the operative winding position slows down so will the speed of reciprocation of the arm 103 so that closely spaced turns are produced. When the empty spool is clutched in, however, the traversing gear will be driven faster so that it will produce closely spaced turns on the empty spool. Since the empty spool is clutched in slightly before Winding has finished on the full spool, the last layer or so on the latter will be of widely spaced turns but this is not a serious trouble.

The filamentary body will now continue to be wound on the spool 58 and the capacitance switch 65 will operate the solenoid 87 so that the piston rod 86 is moved in the direction of the arrow and the shaft 132 is rotated through the pawl 82 and the ratchet wheel 81. The shaft 132 will move so as to adjust the gear 18 to slow down the spool and adjust the gear 26 so that by the time the spool 58 is full and the empty spool is clutched in it will rotate at the correct peripheral speed. This occurs at S3 (Figure 3).

From S3 to S4 there is repeated the half-cyle from S1 to S2.

It will be seen that since both the variable speed gears 18 and 26 are adjusted simultaneously and step by step in dependence on the amount of the filamentary body wound upon the spool in the operative position, and since the initial relative settings of the variable speed gears are arranged in accordance with the desired final package diameter and the diameter of an empty spool, then the rotational speeds of the spools will be such as to ensure a constant linear winding speed during changeover when the desired package diameter is attained by the material on the full spool.

It will be appreciated that any suitable type of variable speed gear could be used.

We claim:

1. A machine for continuously spooling a filamentary body, comprising at least two arbours arranged to carry spools and to be moved in succession into an operative winding position to receive a length of the body, and means for simultaneously driving both an arbour leaving the operative winding position and an arbour ap- The full spool is,

7 proaching said position so that the rotational speed of a spool on the arbour approaching said positionis controlled independence on the .quantity of filamentary body of the spool on the arbour leaving the operative position so that the linear Winding speed remains substantially constant during a changeover from winding on one spool to winding on another, including a first variable speed gear for the arbour in the operative position, a second variable speed gear for the arbour next to move into the operative position, and a common shaft for driving said first and second variable speed gears, said first and second variable speed gears being simultaneously adjusted in dependence on the quantity of filamentary body on the spool on the arbour in the operative position, and including a ratchet device for adjusting the variable speed gears in dependence on the quantity of filamentary body on the spool in the operative position.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, said ratchet device being operated by uni-directional impulses and including means for reversing the output of the ratchet device when changing from one spool to another.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 2 including switch means carried by an arm for controlling said uni-directional impulses, said arm being arranged to follow the increasing diameter of material being wound on the spool in the operative position.

7 4. A machine as claimed in claim 3 wherein said switch means is a capacitance operated proximity switch.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 4 including a cam and said rachet device being connected thereto, the angular position of which cam is controlled by the output of the ratchet device, a follower riding on said cam and" having said arm connected thereto, at least one other cam also connected to said rachet device and means for moving said follower from one cam to another when an empty spool is moved into-the operative position.

6. A machine as claimed in claim 5, the means for reversing the output of the ratchet device being controlled by the means for moving the follower from one cam to another.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 6 including a rotatable bowl carrying said arbours and concentric shafts for driving said bowl and said arbours.

'8. A machine as claimed in claim 7 including an electric motor operatively connected to said bowl, and means for stopping and starting said motor between successive movements of said bowl.

9. A machine as'claimed in claim 8, including traversing means for traversing said filamentary body being wound, and means for driving the traversing means in dependence on the speed of whichever arbour is being driven faster.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

